


That Which We Call a Rose

by ElCapitan18



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4653729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElCapitan18/pseuds/ElCapitan18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Delani Lavellan and Cullen discuss pet-names</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Which We Call a Rose

The Iron Bull’s laugh filled the tavern and the Tevinter mage sitting beside him was grinning widely in reply. It was odd to see them like that, so at ease and careless. While the two liked to pretend that they hadn’t a care in the world, it was hardly the case. Who they were out on the field and who they were back at Skyhold were two different people entirely. 

On the field Iron Bull was all jokes, adventure, and dragon hunting; while Dorian was smart observations about their surroundings and salty comments about how uncomfortable he was with all of their traveling. They would flirt on occasion, protect one another in battle, and sometimes bicker as a source of entertainment. But their relationship was a focal point when they were out on a mission, unable to hide behind the privacy of closed doors without having to toe the line of propriety. 

Here at Skyhold they were allowed to relax. Dorian and The Iron Bull were allowed to be their truest selves without fear or discomfort, because privacy was just a short walk away. It was only here that Delani was able to witness them grin at each other like that, eyes sparkling with love and adoration, and it filled her heart with warmth to see her friends so happy.

“ _Kadan_!” Iron Bull’s booming voice reached her at the other end of the tavern. His large, meaty hand tenderly gripped Dorian by the nape of the neck and he pressed his brow against his lover’s.

Dorian’s replying laugh was lighthearted as he allowed himself to be handled by the larger man. “I know, _Amatus_ ,” he said, “I cannot resist me either.”

They were good for each other, Delani decided for the hundredth time, unable to deny how adorable the two men were together. It was sickening, really, to see them like that. The sweetness of it made her teeth hurt. 

Looking away from her companions and turning back around in her seat, Delani smiled widely at Cullen and waggled her eyebrows at him. He hid his grin behind the lip of his cup and took of the long drink of the ale that filled it. She placed her elbows on the table dividing them and leaned in close so that she could talk at a normal decibel and he could still hear her. 

“They’re having a good time,” she observed, knowing that soon that ‘good time’ was going to move from the tavern to Bull’s private quarters. Pursing her lips, Delani ventured, “It appears as though you and I may have some competition for ‘cutest couple in Skyhold’.”

Cullen set his cup down hard on the table, and an uncomfortable grimace took shape on his lips. “Maker,” he groused, “Please tell me that that is not really a thing.”

She nodded deeply in confirmation of the truth. “I suspect that Cassandra decides it.” Delani’s grin grew the same time that his grimace deepened. 

“Somehow I doubt that Cassandra would waste her time with a pointless competition such as that.”

Her smile turned mischievous, but she simply shrugged in reply. “I agree,” Delani said with a deep nod. “It is a pointless competition, considering that we would obviously win every time.”

A chuckle rumbled between them and Cullen held Delani’s gaze with adoration in his eyes. “Obviously,” he purred in agreement. His elbows found purchase on the table between them and Cullen also leaned in, his mouth seeking hers out in search of a kiss.

It was brief, a swift show of affection that effectively put a blush on Delani’s cheeks. She knew that he was not one to galavant their relationship publicly, unless it was atop the ramparts of course. The rogue on her cheeks deepened a bit, and Delani smiled into the kiss. This man would be the death of her. 

At the other end of the tavern Bull and Dorian were finally ready to turn in for the evening. There was a vocal exchange of endearments as they pawed at each other and blindly started for the stairs to Bull’s chambers.

 _“Kadan,_ ” Iron Bull would growl only for Dorian to reply with a breathless, “ _Amatus_.” Behind them Krem was shouting for them to get a room already as the Chargers cheered the scene on. Delani’s attention was pulled from their kiss to watch her two companions disappear up the stairs, and she shook her head at their drunken outrageousness. 

Turning to face Cullen again, the voices of Iron Bull and Dorian were still bouncing around in her head. Delani’s thoughts were stuck on their endearments, _Amatus_ and _Kadan_ circling in her mind like bees in a garden. Perching her chin on the heel of her palm, Delani regarded Cullen closely, inspecting his features for heartwarming sentiments that might mirror her own. 

Her smile widened and she giggled at the sight of his brows raising slightly in that knowing manner of his. They’d been together, romantically, for only a short while now, and still it felt as though he knew her so well.

“So,” she started, “ _vhenan’ara…_ ”

Cullen’s amber eyes narrowed with suspicion. “ _Ma’atishan_ ,” he replied, his voice a deep rumble that stirred a heat in her belly. 

“Have I told you how much I love it when you call me that?”

The smirk he now wore on his lips was teasing, seductive, and he leaned across the table again until their lips were barely touching. Cullen, tucked Delani’s auburn hair behind a pointed ear and his grin turned wolfish in nature. “Do you now,” he murmured, his voice dropping to a smokey octave that made Delani shift in her seat. 

 _Mhm_ , she hummed with a nod. “But I have to ask,” she spoke softly, forcing herself to find the words, to not be distracted by scar on his upper lip or how badly she wanted to lick it. Blinking hard, she pulled her gaze from the lush of his mouth and returned her attention to his beautiful eyes. “Why _ma’atishan_?”

His smile wavered then as confusion sprouted over the meaning of her question. Leaning back a bit so that he could take in the entirety of her expression, Cullen’s eyebrows were pinched with uncertainty before he answered, “Because you have become my safe place.” He inspected her more closely before prompting, “I told you that already.”

“Yes,” Delani agreed, reaching out between them and grasping his hands in hers. She squeezed them reassuringly and conceded, “You did. That’s not what I’m asking.”

With a bewildered shake of his head, he investigated, “Then what are you asking?”

Running her thumb over dips and climbs of his knuckles, Delani offered him a smile and the explanation, “You call me _ma’atishan_ , ‘my safe place’, an elven endearment not of your native tongue.” When his expression widened with confusion about what her point was with all of this, she gave the back of his hand a comforting pat. “Iron Bull calls Dorian _Kadan_ , and Dorian refers to Iron Bull as _Amatus_. Their endearments are natural to them, yet you chose one that wasn’t to you.”

Delani peered deeply into Cullen’s honey colored eyes and wondered, “What I want to know is: why?”

At last he understood what her investigation was about. A look of relief washed over Cullen’s features. His easy smile returned to his lips and he shrugged as though his answer wouldn’t merit the weight she’d given it. 

“The King’s tongue is not as colorful as yours,” he explained, blood rushing his features until they were lightly painted with a shade of pink. “Our endearments are limited to dear, sweetheart, love, darling,” Cullen reached out between them again and returned the errant lock of hair to its place behind her ear. 

He thumbed over the shape of her cheekbone and smiled warmly at Delani for a moment. “They are all fine endearments,” admitted Cullen. “But none of them fully capture what it is I feel about you.”

The corner of his mouth twisted into a playful simper and he drawled out, “But if would prefer that I call you something less meaningful…” in that rough, gravely, mind-numbingly alluring timbre of his. 

Delani grabbed onto Cullen by the fur of his mantel and brought her lips to his again. Their noses brushed but she stopped before claiming his mouth with her own. “No,” she growled, “Nothing else will suffice.”

“My thoughts exactly, _ma’atishan_ ,” Cullen rasped before burying his fingers in her hair and pulling her the rest of the way to his lips. 

She was lost to the kiss the moment she felt his lips pressed against hers. Delani did not want to be found; not yet, not ever.


End file.
